Hortz: What do you see as the top critical priorities to drive next-generation distribution enablement in 2022?
Sheldon: We see three critical priorities emerging to address these challenges and drive the evolution to next-gen distribution enablement.
First, it will require agile innovation and execution at scale to adapt to continuing changes in customer behavior and to deliver the required improvements in productivity. This will require much tighter alignment across the organization, the right measures and metrics, and a greater return on technology and data investments.
Second, the design point for next-gen distribution enablement needs to be the customer, not the product! Client needs will continue to evolve. Firms must become even more customer-centric. This will require deeper client insights, enabled with personalized and relevant content and messaging (for advisors and end clients), all aligned around a customer experience based on those insights and understanding.
Third, leaders must continue to invest in data-driven enablement programs and digitally enabled customer experiences. This includes the expanded utilization of third-party data sources, integrated distribution enablement platforms across the lifecycle, additional investment in AI and analytics, and an enhanced focus on driving adoption of these capabilities by the distribution teams.
Hortz: Can you drill down on any key findings you uncovered in each of these critical priorities?
Sheldon: Here are a couple of examples. I mentioned earlier the challenge in aligning marketing, sales and service to drive more agile and coordinated execution. We found that distribution enablement is led by the Sales or Distribution teams at nearly two-thirds of the firms. Only 30% said marketing has leadership responsibility for distribution enablement.
We ran a similar survey in tech and fully 50% of tech firms place sales enablement leadership responsibility with the marketing teams. A few forward-thinking asset managers are talking about “marketing-led distribution,” and we expect to see this trend continue to help drive the customer-centricity that will be critical to next-gen distribution enablement.
Building on that need for customer-centricity, we were really surprised to see that the “lack of well-defined segments and personas” was a top three issue for more than half of the firms! This is a foundational requirement for engaging with customers in a personalized and relevant manner, and for providing a customer experience that is aligned with their needs and preferences. This must be a top priority for any firm truly interested in next-gen distribution enablement.
Lastly, we found that “disconnected tools and technologies across marketing, sales and service” is still a top three challenge for 60% of firms. Given that alignment across those three groups is still a challenge, this is not surprising. Yet despite significant investment in technology over the last several years, many firms still underleverage their technology because of that disconnect. This impedes their 360° view of the customer, detracting from their ability to understand changing customer needs, and to tailor content and messaging to address those.
Market leaders have already connected their technology stack across the lifecycle and implemented data solutions that allow them to gather, analyze and action insights in a much more timely way. Those who have not indicated that this is a top priority moving forward in order to close that gap will be in an uncompetitive position.
Hortz: Any thoughts on how this research can help hone strategy?
Sheldon: Well first, I believe it helps build the business case for next-gen distribution enablement with an external market perspective. Given that a number of firms feel their current distribution enablement strategy is extremely effective, I hope this research is a catalyst for them to honestly evaluate their current approach. The feedback has been very positive, with several firms saying this is closely aligned with initiatives and priorities they are currently working on. Perhaps it will propel some of the laggards to deeper thinking around next-gen distribution.